Dr. Nikia Smith Shares Burnout Recovery Journey/Sustainable Medicine Strategies on Sustainable Clinical Medicine Podcast
You don’t go into burnout overnight, and you don’t come out of it over a weekend...Recovery means reconnecting with yourself, your community, and the things that genuinely recharge you.”
NV, UNITED STATES, May 29, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Board-certified anesthesiologist, wellness coach, and retreat curator Dr. Nikia Smith of She is Fire Forged recently joined Sarah Smith on the Sustainable Clinical Medicine Podcast to discuss physician burnout, healthcare culture, and how clinicians can create more sustainable careers without leaving medicine entirely.— Dr. Nikia Smith
During the episode, Dr. Smith opened up about her personal experience with burnout after years of working demanding schedules in anesthesiology. What began as exhaustion and irritability gradually evolved into emotional numbness and thoughts of leaving medicine completely.
“I realized I wasn’t just tired anymore,” Dr. Smith shared. “I had emotionally checked out.”
She described a breaking point after an intense overnight call shift where she worked nearly 20 consecutive hours. Following that experience, Dr. Smith began reevaluating both her career and her relationship with work.
The conversation explored the systemic challenges contributing to burnout in healthcare, including staffing shortages, unrealistic workloads, and administrative cultures that reward clinicians for continuing to function under unsustainable conditions.
“When we handled the extra workload well, administration decided we didn’t actually need more staff,” Dr. Smith explained. “That was a turning point for me.”
Rather than leaving medicine altogether, Dr. Smith began redefining how she practiced. She negotiated for schedules that aligned with her personal well-being, eventually transitioning into a part-time anesthesiology role that allows her to prioritize both patient care and her own recovery.
Throughout the episode, Dr. Smith emphasized that burnout recovery requires more than sleep or self-care weekends.
“You don’t go into burnout overnight, and you don’t come out of it over a weekend,” she said. “Recovery means reconnecting with yourself, your community, and the things that genuinely recharge you.”
Now through her coaching and physician wellness retreats, Dr. Smith helps other clinicians navigate burnout, establish boundaries, negotiate more sustainable work arrangements, and reconnect with themselves outside of medicine.
The episode also highlighted the importance of community, self-compassion, and advocating for healthier systems within healthcare.
“I encourage clinicians to keep asking for what they need,” said Dr. Smith. “Medicine is changing, and it’s better for systems to keep providers in sustainable roles than lose them entirely.”
Listen to the full episode of Sustainable Clinical Medicine featuring Dr. Nikia Smith at this link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/burnout-in-healthcare-isnt-just-about-being-tired-its/id1664852527?i=1000749988701
About Dr. Nikia Smith
Dr. Nikia Smith is a board-certified anesthesiologist, wellness coach, and retreat facilitator. She’s also the founder of She Is Fire Forged, a transformative wellness brand that helps high-achieving women of color reclaim their peace, power, and purpose. With over a decade of experience in the high-stress world of medicine, Nikia brings a deeply informed lens to conversations around burnout, boundaries, and emotional restoration.
She guides women—especially Black women in leadership and healthcare—through the exhaustion of constantly being everything to everyone. Nikia equips her clients with the tools to say no without guilt, build lives rooted in their own values, and choose softness over survival. Through retreats, coaching, and community care, she creates spaces for women to pause, reset, and reimagine what thriving truly looks like.
Nikia has also been featured as a guest on the Docs Get Money and Free to Be Mindful podcasts.
Outside of work, Nikia prioritizes rest, joy, and connection. She loves reading, recharging with loved ones, and spending time with her niece, modeling what’s possible for powerful women.
Christina Lenkowski
Publicity by Christina
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